One year on from adopting the solution, Australian state road and traffic authority, VicRoads is reaping the rewards of using technology company Yotta’s visualised asset management software, Horizons.

Key gains achieved include the ability to model various budget scenarios and compare them with historically selected forward works programmes; the ability to model the impact of changes in funding levels on network condition and the opportunity to model different road schemes against each other, but also take socio-economic criteria into account – in order to determine priorities.

In addition, Horizons’ flexibility makes it easy for VicRoads to incorporate a wide array of different data sets from third party systems into the solution. The Horizons software also enables VicRoads to quickly and easily view and identify gaps in the data or incorrect information. It not only provides the authority with significantly enhanced insight into its highways assets but it critically also gives it faster time to insight.

Moreover, Horizons is easy to use, there are no complex algorithms to be developed and analysis can be carried out and completed rapidly, in turn enabling VicRoads to make more accurate decisions more quickly and to deliver higher service levels to key stakeholders.

Horizons was implemented at VicRoads by a consortium including asset management delivery leader, Fulton Hogan; Opus, a leading multi-disciplinary infrastructure consultancy; and technology company, Yotta itself. The consortium is primarily using the software to support the programme development and asset management of two large-scale Maintenance Alliance Contracts, encompassing more than 7,500 kilometres of arterial road network across the state of Victoria.

David Paine, National Asset Manager, Fulton Hogan, said: “VicRoads is a forward-thinking authority that is eager to embrace the latest technology solutions to enhance its strategic asset management approach. Implementing Horizons has not only given them a clearer picture of the status of their highways assets today, it also allows them to plan ahead more proactively.

“With Horizons they can plot in multiple future scenarios and visualise the likely impact of each,” he continues. “This in turn enables them to put work plans in place that optimise their likely results for each possible outcome – and allows them to capitalise on the insight achieved by making faster and more accurate decisions about the future approach.”

Launched in Australia in early 2015, Horizons is a cloud-based software as a service solution designed to make it easier for asset management, infrastructure and finance teams to visualise, manage and optimise all their asset management strategies and records in a unique and effective way. It has the potential to bring a broad array of benefits to local government departments and state road authorities across the country, who could use the solution to improve the management of their road budgets; engage with more stakeholders, including their local communities, and evaluate a much broader range of factors as part of the overall decision-making process.